The Raising Of A McGiblet
by esprit en deuil
Summary: Third part of the kid!Tony series, follows the events of My Miracle Baby and Our Little Wonderboy. This part will be a collection of one-shots about the life of the little family :  Slash Gibbs/McGee.
1. Making it official

_**A/N: Hey I'm baaack! I'm really sorry for the delay, but I had a lot of things in mind I wanted to write about for this and then they just all seemed to disappear... So anyways this chap really isn't one of my best work, but I wanted to get the third part of the series started so here we are. Thank you so much for WCUgirl for her help with the legal things, you're awesome! Any mistakes in the details are mine and I really have little to no knowledge of legal proceedings in USA. **_

Tim and Gibbs laid in bed after an evening of running after Tony, who had a day earlier mastered the art of crawling to perfection, well as close to perfection as you can get while you're stuck on reverse.

Tim laughed as the image of the little boy backing around the living room filled his mind and he pushed his face into his lover's shoulder.

"Oh god i can't believe he goes like a rocket back wards but can't move an inch in the other direction"

Gibbs snorted and Tim could feel his shoulder shaking under his face as the older man tried to keep himself from laughing out loud.

"And he's just started crawling, imagine when our little boy starts walking-" Tim laughed at the image his lover's words prompted before sobering and moving to lie on his side so that his head was propped up on his hand and he was looking at the older man.

He looked closely at the man next to him and saw the laugh lines around his eyes and the small wrinkles around his mouth were the corners fought to turn upwards. The man looked so happy, Tim wanted the man to look like that always.

"About that-" Tim bit his bottom lip as he thought of how to say what he was thinking about. They'd been living together as a family for a few months and everyday he grew more certain that what he and Gibbs had would last and every time he saw the older man interact with his little boy he could see the love in the mans eyes.

So in the end the words came more easily than he thought.

"Would you like to make it official?"

Gibbs froze at the words, it took his a few seconds to decipher what the man was talking about, but when it hit him, he sat up quickly and looked at his lover.

"What?" he had to make sure, but the hope and joy was already bubbling in him.

McGee almost groaned at the blunt words and thought that maybe the words hadn't come so easily after all. He cleared his throat and sat up so he was sitting cross legged in front of Gibbs.

"Would you consider being Tony's father on paper? I know you're already like a father to him but-" he didn't get the chance to finish as his mouth was taken in a fierce kiss and a 'yes' whispered against his lips before they parted completely.

"Are you sure Tim? I love you and you know I love Tony, I would be honored to be his father"

McGee gave him a bright smile and with one last kiss the men laid back down with Tim held securely in his lover's arms. They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces and thoughts of their son and each other in their dreams.

Gibbs had thought that the process would take a lot longer than it did, but he had also thought he would be legally adopting the child, but apparently that wasn't possible for him to do.

The had gotten a meeting with McGee's lawyer who would be handling the matter of making Gibbs Tony's parent, for two days after they had decided the issue.

The lawyer was a pleasant young ma, about the same age as McGee, and had no problem with the men bringing the boy with them so the couple didn't bother getting Abby or any of the other's to babysit as that would only serve to ruin their fun as they broke the news to them in person about the newest development.

Tim sat in front of the big desk in the lawyer's office with tony sitting on his lap fiddling with the man's tie, Gibbs sat in the chair next to them as they talked about the details of the process with the lawyer.

"So, as Tony's legal and biological father, you Tim have the choice here. Unfortunately it isn't possible for both parties involved in a same sex relationship to have the status of the child's legal parent, but it is possible for you to add Agent Gibbs as Tony's guardian."

The two men frowned at that, both men were more than familiar with the holes in their legal system and that the rights of same sex couples were still in very early stages, but still it felt unfair that they couldn't protect Tony more fully and give Gibbs the same rights as a parent as Tim.

"So basically it would mean that were something to happen to me, Jethro would have no legal rights as a parent" Gibbs frowned at his lover, not at all pleased to be thinking that kind of things.

"Well that would depend on many factors, but the statistics show that most of the children in a situation where their legal parent is killed and guardian is still alive, the child goes to a foster home." He held up a hand to stall any protests

"However, there are cases where the child has been given to the guardian. The things that work in your favor should something happen would be the upstanding reputation of Agent Gibbs, and of course your will to fight for the custody and lets not forget that you have a very good lawyer in your corner"

He gave the men a few minutes to digest the statement before pulling out the papers he had drawn as soon as his client called him.

"Agent McGee, if you are willing to grant guardianship to your partner, I would like to ask you to sign these papers" He gave the stack of papers to McGee who hugged his son tight as he signed the papers and handed them back to the lawyer.

"Okay, and now Agent Gibbs, if you're willing to become a guardian of Anthony McGee-Dinozzo, please sign the papers" he handed the papers to Gibbs who smiled at his lover and the little boy before signing the papers.

"Well then, I would like to offer my congratulations to you both, these papers will have to be signed by a judge, but that's merely a formality." Tim and Gibbs both stood up and hugged each other tightly, wrapping Tony in the hug as well, but being careful not to squish the boy.

They shook the lawyers hand and after he promised to send the papers to them after the judge has a chance to sign them, they left the office.

They made their way to the car and Gibbs took Tony from his lovers arms and went to put him to his seat as a thought struck him and a wide smile spread on his face.

Tim watched the smile break out and lifted an eyebrow in question as to what brought it on.

"Just thinking, I've loved Tony probably from the first time I saw him, but I guess he was always your son in a way, but now he's _our_ son, I like the sound of it" Gibbs shrugged, but the smile didn't leave his face as he buckled the boy up and gave him his traveling teddy and watched the boy squeeze it hard. He made his way to the drivers seat and got in only to have his mouth taken in a kiss as soon as he turned to his lover.

Tim smiled mischievously and brushed their lips together once more before pulling back.

"What you say Jethro we take _our_ son home and put him down for his nap and do a bit of celebrating?"

Tim laughed as his only answer was the car's engine roaring to life.


	2. Reaching out

_**A/N: Yay, the second chapter is up and running (catch it if you can ;D ) Anyways, these first chapters will have pretty small gaps between them (time wise) but I think that later they will grow and we might jump months or years between chapters, and I'm hoping that I can keep these in chronological order to avoid confusion. And to answer one of the reviewers of the first chapter: No, all babies don't learn to crawl backwards first. Some learn this way first and then to go forward and some skip the backwards phase and some skip the forward phase on their way to learning to walk. Hope that made some sense :)**_

_**But enough of me blabbering, Thanks to all reviewers, alerters and favoriters, here's the chap hope you enjoy!: **_

Gibbs sat in an armchair in the living room and watched his lover and his parents playing with the little kid who was giggling in delight at having all this attention and was making sure to not lose it by making faces at the three.

He studied the scene silently and contemplated the tableau and the fact that though it seemed that their son had all the love he needed, there still seemed to be a piece missing. He shook his head as he realized what he had thought, _their _son, it was still hard to believe that Tony was now his son too as officially and legally as was possible.

The man was roused from his thoughts when his lover tapped his shoulder and he looked up at the younger man and their son in his arms before noticing that the older McGee's were getting ready to leave. He got up and placed a hand on Tim's shoulder as they walked the boy's grandparents to the door and bid their good byes and wished the couple a safe journey back.

Tim shut the door and looked down at the kid in his arms who was struggling to get free so the man laughed slightly at his enthusiasm and put Tony down on the floor.

The boy looked around at his surroundings and then glanced up at the two big men that were standing side by side on his right. He gave a small squeal before putting his new skill of actually crawling forward to use and taking off towards the living room where on the floor lay all his favorite toys.

The two men followed him and regarded the quickly crawling baby fondly as he ambled straight for his favorite toy that was lying at the middle of the floor. Tim and Gibbs sat on the couch and looked at their son who was now busy stuffing the toy frog into his mouth.

McGee laughed softly and turned to his lover, but the laugh died down as he noticed the serious and contemplating look on the older man's face. He sighed and after thinking whether or not to bring up the older man's quiet mood, but thought it best to try and figure out the cause of it.

"What's on your mind Jethro? You've been quiet all evening and" Tim refrained from pointing out that even his parents had noticed that Gibbs seemed almost broody.

Gibbs gave the younger man a look that caused Tim to smirk slightly at the implication of it.

"Well more quiet than usual"

Jethro sighed, he stood up and retrieved Tony from the floor along with the frog now hanging from the boy's mouth and retook his seat on the couch. Tim just watched in silence at his lover who was looking at the happy boy with something akin to regret on his face. Finally the older man broke the silence.

"What would you say about going on a small trip, with the three of us?" The words puzzled McGee, but he figured that there was more to the question than it seemed so he kept his eyes on the boy in Gibbs' lap as he answered. He feared that if he looked up to meet his lover's eyes, the uncertainty and puzzlement in his eyes would would cause the older man to shut down and not complete the train of thought that began with the seemingly innocent query.

"Sure, I think we have a free weekend coming up after this one, where'd you wanna go" Tim tried to keep his voice level and as indifferent as he could make it, as if he wasn't nervous and a bit scared of the answer.

"Stillwater, Pennsylvania." O-okay Tim thought, he definitely hadn't seen that one coming. The one word answer got the wheels in his head turning and his mind whirled as he wondered where the thought had come from so out of the blue. He had no idea of what could have made his older lover think of his hometown after so many years of not being there.

Tim wracked his brain for a cause for the sudden desire for Gibbs to go visit the small mining town, he thought back and realized that something about the evening must have triggered the longing. It was like a light bulb had gone of in his head as he remembered their visitors and the look on his lover's face as he had watched the older people play with Tony.

"You wanna go see your dad, don't you?"

Jethro nodded and put Tony down as the boy was squirming to be let down so he could go explore more of his toys. He watched the kid crawl of before locking eyes with Tim.

"Seeing your parents with Tony made me realize how much I'm denying not only our son, but my dad and us as well. I want to try and repair the rift between us so he can be a part of this" He motioned to Tony who was playing with his toys on the floor and to the two of them sitting on the couch hoping that Tim would catch his meaning.

McGee's heart was beating fast as he thought about going up to meet the older man's estranged father. He'd never been good at the whole meet the parents thing.

"Are you sure?" He wanted to be certain that his partner wouldn't regret the decision and if he was honest with himself he was hoping for a negative answer to get out of going. Almost as soon as the thought entered his mind Tim gave himself a head slap, this was a big thing for Gibbs so he shouldn't even be thinking like that.

"Yeah I'm sure, it's high time we tried to patch things up and besides I want to share with him the best things in my life" Gibbs' eyes held Tim's so there could be no mistaking the meaning behind the words and the younger man blushed a bit at the declaration. He knew his lover loved both him and Tony, but hearing him say things like this served to keep any doubts from forming.

McGee smiled and leaned into the older man who wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The men watched Tony who was now lying on his belly on the floor with his head turned so they could see the sleepy face. The boy was clutching his rag in a tight fist and the thumb of his other hand firmly in his mouth as he tried to keep his heavy eyelids from falling closed.

Tim turned his head to give the older man's cheek a kiss before getting up and picking up the boy who was quickly loosing his battle to stay awake.

"C'mon buddy, time for bed" he said as Tony snuggled his head into the warm shoulder of his daddy.

"I'm gonna call him while you put the little man to bed. I don't think showing up unannounced is the way to go here" Gibbs said with a small smirk before giving both his guys a kiss on the temple. Tim nodded his head in agreement and turned away to hide the small smirk that crossed his way as he saw the look on his lover's face as he contemplated what he would say to his dad.

Gibbs watched as his lover walked out of the room before he took out his cell and scrolled his contacts. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. 'For crying out loud suck it up marine!' he thought to himself before hitting the call button and bringing the cell to his ear.

It took enough rings for Gibbs to think about hanging up before the call was answered, but as he heard the voice he hadn't heard in years he was glad he had waited, he refused to acknowledge the part that would have been glad to put this conversation of with maybe another ten years..

"_Jackson Gibbs" as Gibbs didn't answer immediately the older man snapped into the phone "If this is the Branden boys prank calling me again I swear i-"_

"Dad" that one word stopped the threat short and there was a pause before a hesitant voice spoke from the other end of the line.

"_Leroy? That you?"_ Jethro felt extra moisture gathering in his eyes at being called Leroy after so much time, but he cleared his throat and acknowledged the question asked.

"Yeah it's me dad, how are you?" there was another pause, but when the older man answered it caused a smile to break out on Jethro's face.

"_How am I doing? You called me after god knows how many years to ask me how I'm doing? It's good to hear from you Leroy, I've been fine and I hope that you have too, but I'm sure that's not really why you called now is it?" _

The younger Gibbs sighed and rand a hand through his hair. "Well not quite. I wanted to call you and see if you had any plans for the weekend after next? There's some one I'd like you to meet and I thought we could maybe catch up if you're free." There was a hesitancy to the words that told Jackson that his son was afraid of being turned down.

"_You know you're welcome here anytime Leroy, I'll be happy to see you again and this mystery person is welcome too" Jethro relaxed at the words and they exchanged a few more words before hanging up. _

Gibbs sat on the couch staring at his phone for a minute after the hung up. He couldn't believe he'd actually talked to the man after so many years. He looked up at Tim who was standing by the entrance to the living room with a relieved expression on his face.

"I take it it went well." The younger man remarked as he came to stand in front of the older man and it was only then that Jethro realized that he himself had a relieved smile on his face.

"Yeah, he'll be glad to see us" Gibbs' smile grew as he realized the truth in that statement and he leaned to brush a light kiss across the tempting mouth of his partner.

"C'mon, lets go get some shut eye, I'm sure the little guy will keep us busy tomorrow" There was a twinkle in the older man's eyes that had Tim smiling happily at him, he just wished that the visit would go as well as his lover obviously expected. He didn't want that twinkle in the blue eyes and the happiness on his face to be jeopardized by anything.

For the next week and a half the two lovers prepared for the upcoming trip by getting the little nuisance of the grating transmission in Gibbs' car fixed and making sure they had everything they would need for the visit.

Tim being the more openly sentimental of the two decided to get a big copy of one of Tony's baby pictures and having it framed so that they had something to give Jackson to remember his grand child by as the boy would likely remain the older man's only grandchild.

The morning of the trip was an organized chaos that even all of Gibbs' Marine planning skills couldn't avoid. The two men ran back and forth between the car and the house, making sure nothing got forgotten and trying to do their best to not show the nervousness they were feeling.

Abby had decided to come and see his favorite men and boy before they departed on the trip and so she was sitting on the porch looking at all the activity with the little boy sitting in her lap with the frog in his little hands.

The goth girl couldn't help but laugh at the way her friends were bustling back and forth and she looked down as the boy laughed along with her, which just made her laugh harder as the boy surely had no idea of what was going on. Finally after she calmed herself down she looked up to see both men standing beside the car and watching her with a question in their eyes.

"Nothing guys, just something Tony boy said" She said and giggled merrily when the men looked when more puzzled but shrugged their shoulders at each other deciding they really didn't want to know.

"We're ready to go Abs" Gibbs called out, motioning for the girl to bring the boy to the car so they could strap him in and get going.

"Um I think you're not as ready as you think" She said hesitantly as stood up and headed for the two men with the boy in her arms. She elaborated as the Gibbs' glare hit her full force.

"Well I just think you might want to do a diaper change before leaving if you don't want to suffer from these odors for the whole ride" She wrinkled her nose and grinned widely as she handed Tony to Tim and kissed the boy on the forehead leaving a smear of black lipstick behind.

"See ya, have a nice ride!" She called from over her shoulder as she got into her own vehicle and drove of, leaving two flabbergasted men and one smelly baby behind.

"It's your turn to take care of it Tim" Jethro said with a small twitch of his lips, which caused the younger man to roll his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, we're going. C'mon Tones you stink" apparently the boy found the idea of being smelly really funny because the sound of his giggles could be heard as the man and the boy disappeared inside.

Jethro chuckled softly as he leaned against the truck and waited for the two to reappear and it didn't take long until they were in the car and heading towards Stillwater, with Gibbs driving and the other two in the back seat.

The long ride was uneventful and Tony slept most of the way, but he woke up just outside the little town and the long nap was making the baby extra hyper which made the rest of the ride an interesting one for Tim at least as he was the one who had to keep the boy entertained.

Finally Jethro pulled in front of and old house that stood next to the general store his dad had been running for years already when he last saw the old man.

McGee was silent as Gibbs parked the car and they got out of the truck, he'd asked his lover if the older Gibbs knew about his son's preference of male companions, and although he had been assured that he did and it was fine by him, he was still tense and fearing a bad reaction.

Tim was getting Tony out of the car when the front door to the house opened and an elder man made his way slowly to Jethro and after a moments hesitation drew him into a tight hug.

"Leroy, it's been too long" He said as the younger man returned the greeting with a "Hey. Dad"

They sized each other up and both were pleased to note that the other looked good.

"So Leroy I guess this is the guy you wanted me to meet?" The older Gibbs said with a pointed look at the man who was now making his way over to them with something in his arms, it took Jackson a moment to realize that it wasn't something, but someone and he turned big eyes back to his son.

"One of them" Jethro said and as Tim was close enough he placed an arm around his shoulders and did the introductions.

"Dad, This is my Life partner Timothy McGee and our son Tony, Tim this is my dad, Jackson Gibbs" McGee smiled weakly as he noted the surprised expression on the man's face.

"Um hi, pleasure to meet you sir, You can call me Tim" He reached to shake Jackson's hand which seemed to snap the older man out of his thoughts.

"Just call me Jack son, and none of that Sir crap, I work of a living" The handshake was firm and once it was over, Jackson turned his eyes back to the small boy in Tim's arms.

"How old is he?" He asked with a slightly shaky voice as he saw the boy look back at him with curious eyes and after a while reach with his hands towards the stranger.

"Four moths" Jethro answered proudly as he watched his father hesitantly take the boy in his arms and look at the little kid in wonder.

"I think we should get inside, grab your backs and you can get settled, Leroy I trust you remember where your room is, we'll bring your old cot there once you've settled in."

Jethro nodded his thanks and moved to take Tony, but Jackson shook his head.

"I've got him, you just get your luggage in" Jackson smiled warmly as Tony patted his cheek with one of his small hands and the man turned his head to playfully nibble on the palm of the boy's hand, causing the boy to giggle.

The two men watching the interaction laughed slightly before going to retrieve their backs and brought them to Jethro's old room.

"You're dad seemed to take everything well" Tim commented as they were putting things away in their room.

"Yeah, I think Tony is good for him, but there will definitely be a third degree heading our way as soon as we're done here." Jethro warned his lover who groaned.

The older of the two had been right, as soon as they got back down stairs Jackson motioned for them both to sit at the kitchen table where he had placed a plate of sandwiches and cookie along with freshly brewed coffee and tea. He sat himself on the other side of the table with Tony in his lap and a small jar of apple sauce in front of him.

"Is he allowed to eat this?" He asked the two men as he wasn't sure whether or not they had started the boy on purees yet.

"Yeah it's fine, but I can take him if you'd like" Tim offered as he sat next to Jethro.

Jackson shook his head and opened the apple sauce "Nonsense, it's no trouble"

There was silence for a while as the couple munched on the sandwiches and watched their son being fed by his grand father.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Jackson asked the two men, breaking the silence.

"About four months" Jethro answered and looked at his lover who smiled back at him.

Jackson nodded his head and looked between his son and the boy in his lap "Is Tony your son?" As he saw Jethro ready to defend his place as the boy's father he corrected his question. "I meant biologically speaking"

"He is my biological son, his mother died at child birth. But Jethro is also his father in every way that counts." Tim answered and was relieved as Jackson seemed to except it and didn't ask him to elaborate.

"I love him like he's my own flesh and blood, dad. " Jethro said and looked at his father "And I was hoping you would except him as your grandson" There were tears in the oldest man's eyes as the words hit home.

"I haven't been called grandpa since Kelly was killed, I would love to have a chance to be that again" Jackson was overwhelmed by emotion and stubbornly cleared his throat and tried to keep the tears from falling.

"Well, Tim why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and I would love to hear some stories of what this son of mine has been up to lately." Jethro groaned as Tim started telling about both himself, his family and the recent adventures of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

_**A/N2:I'm not sure should I end the chapters with TBC because these are meant to be one shots so I'm not sure if that would be appropriate and then THE END seems too final as there will be more chapters... Any ideas?**_


	3. teeth and daddies

_**A/N: Yay another chapter is up! Sorry it's taking me so long to write these, but I have exams coming as well as whole ton of things I should get done in the next couple of weeks and time is not on my side right now. A big thank you hug to everyone who has reviewed and I hope you enjoy! **_

For the first time in his life Gibbs was torn between his obligation of going to work and his need to stay home. He bounced the screaming baby in his arms and tried to sooth the crying child but it didn't do much good.

He sighed as he thought that it couldn't have been worse time for Tim to be sent to a some computer seminar. Tim had been to work for a few months and they had settled into a routine with taking Tony to the NCIS day care whenever they had to work and sometimes if there was a big case, McGee's parents took care of the little boy. There had been some difficulties in the beginning, mainly the fact that neither Gibbs nor Tim were eager to leave their son to the hands of practical strangers and once they got over that hurdle, the constant visiting the younger man did to the day care during the day almost drove the workers up the wall.

But since then it had all worked well and neither man felt the same reluctance to leave Tony the nannies, except now. Gibbs rocked Tony in his arms and paced the length of the living room, he looked at his watch and saw that it was almost past time he should be getting ready to go to work so he thought about his options.

Tim had been in the conference from Tuesday and wouldn't be back until Saturday or Sunday. Tim's parents were on a trip and wouldn't be able to look after Tony so really he figured there was only one thing to do.

He shifted the boy in his arms enough to access his cell phone which was in the pocket of the jeans he was wearing. He tried to shush the baby so he could make the call, but since the boy showed no signs of stopping he decided to just go ahead and punched one of his speed dials.

_"Director Morrow"_

"Tom, I need today off" Gibbs said without preamble.

_"Well hello to you too Jethro. May I ask what brought this on? I can't remember you ever asking for a day off and Christ Gibbs what's that noise? "_ Obviously the screaming of the child carried well through phone lines even if there were no actual lines on cell phones.

"It's Tony, he's teething and feverish and with McGee in the geek conference I-"

_"No need to say anything more I understand. Since your team isn't on rotation since your one man short and still haven't gotten a permanent fourth to your team, I'm giving you today and the weekend off. And once you come to work on Monday we can have a talk about the fourth member you need to get"_ There was a noticeable smirk on the director's voice and Gibbs groaned at the tit for tat tactics that were being used against him.

"Understood sir, Thanks Tom" Gibbs said with a sincere gratitude in his voice. He was glad that Tom knew about his relationship with Tim and about their family situation as it made life so much easier in situations like these.

"_My pleasure, I don't want to expose my agents to your temper when you're on a papa bear mode as Abby likes to call it. Take care of that little boy and I hope he feels better soon" _

With that he hung up the phone and Gibbs shook his head at the fact that Tom was one of the only people who could hang up on him before he could do it to them.

He tossed the phone to the sofa, not bothering to make sure whether or not it stayed on the cushions or bounced to the floor as he turned his attention back to tony who wasn't screaming anymore as he was probably resting his throat, but was still crying into Gibbs' shoulder.

Jethro almost head slapped himself as he thought about the baby teething 101 that he had totally forgotten in his attempt to sooth his son. He hugged the boy tightly and hurried up the stairs into Tony's room and one handedly rummaged through one of the changing table's drawers. He smirked in triumph as his fingers closed around the object he had been searching for and he bulled the thing out and hurried to the bathroom. Once there he put the water running and waited for it to run as cold as possible before holding the teething ring under the streaming water.

After a few minutes he shut the faucet and took the now cool toy and gently placed it into the boy's mouth. He didn't realize he was holding his breathe until the cool toy seemed to help the ache in Tony's mouth and the boy stopped crying ans the pent up air left his lungs in a relieved breath.

He watched for a while how the boy bit and sucked greedily on the toy before making his way to the nursery and placing the boy to the cot as he noticed the kids eyelids drooping as the ache in his gums eased and the crying he had been doing took it's toll, and soon the kid was fats asleep. He watched Tony for a while with a fond smile on his face, before taking another rubber ring from the changing table and taking it to the kitchen to put it to cool so it would be ready for use as soon as it was needed.

Gibbs stood in the kitchen at rubbed a tired hand over his face. Tony hadn't slept much during the night with his fever and gum ache keeping him awake, and Gibbs hadn't gotten much shut eye either. He glanced at the coffee pot longingly, but decided to take advantage of the fact that the baby was asleep and get some rest for a while. He walked into the living room and upon seeing his phone on the sofa he decided there was something he needed to do first.

"_Dr Mallard speaking" Answered the cultured voice after half a dozen rings. _

"Duck it's me, Tony has a fever. I think it's just teething but I'd feel better if you checked him over to be sure."

"_Why of course Jethro, I would be delighted to see the little lad, though I do wish it wasn't because he was feeling poorly. I'm in the middle of an autopsy right now, but I can be there in two hours if that would be agreeable." _Gibbs smiled at the polite chastisement of his habit of only socializing when absolutely necessary, though he was getting better now with Tony and Tim around.

"That would be great Duck, Thanks"

"_It is my pleasure Jethro" _Ducky had barely gotten the words out before Gibbs disconnected the call.

He stretched a bit and contemplated calling his lover, but decided to wait until the ME came by and confirmed that there really was nothing to worry about. He put the cell into his pocket and made his way into his and Tim's bedroom where he laid down for a nap.

He woke up an hour and a half later by the sound of the front door opening and closing which brought him instantly awake and had him on high alert. He reached for his gun bit relaxed at the soft call of his name.

"In here Duck" he called out as he exited the bedroom, he made sure to keep his voice low enough that he would wake Tony who from the sound of it was still asleep.

"Ah there you are, I take it the little one is sleeping?" Ducky said as he came up the stairs and set down his medical bag.

"Yeah, he didn't really get much sleep last night" Gibbs said with a shrug that he hoped hid the small note of concern in his voice. He didn't want to be like one of those parents that freaked out over every little bug and scraped knee.

"Well then, I'll go and give Anthony a check up" as he saw his friend start to protest he held up a hand. "Not to worry Jethro, I will do my very best to not wake our little patient. Why don't you go and make some coffee in the mean time? I dare say my friend that you're looking a bit worn out. And I wouldn't be adverse to a cup of tea after I'm done." He said with a small smile before walking to Tony's room and quietly entering and leaving a slightly baffled Gibbs standing in the hall.

Jethro shook his head and descended the stairs and heading for the kitchen to put on both coffee and putting water to boil to make tea. He inhaled the fragrance of his drug of choice as it brewed and as soon as the pot was full he took a cup and poured some of the black liquid into it, before taking a grateful gulp.

He stood in silence for a while until he heard the sound of car door slamming and after a while the the sound of the front door opening. He raised an eyebrow as he heard the new comer whistling to himself and he put down his cup of coffee and went to the hallway.

"You're back early" He said as he sneaked up behind his lover who was struggling to get his shoe off without opening the laces. He smirked when the younger man jumped at the sound of his voice.

Tim twirled around and a smile spread on his face at the sight of his older lover.

"The speaker got sick so the conference ended early." The two men shared a chaste kiss before McGee seemed to realize that something was off.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Tim's brow was furrowed in confusion, but before Gibbs could answer they heard the sound of Ducky's voice as he came down the stairs.

"Well Jethro, I finished the check up and am proud to inform you that the little one is still very much asleep"

McGee's eyes widened as concern and a bit fear filled his eyes.

"What's wrong Jethro? Did something happen to Tony?" Tim turned his eyes from his lover to the ME who had appeared in the hall.

"Oh Timothy, it's good to see you my boy. Now I just gave Anthony a check up and as Jethro predicted there's nothing more wrong with the boy but just a slight fever and aches caused by the teething process."

Gibbs nodded his thanks to Ducky as he relaxed, knowing that there was nothing serious wrong with the little boy. Tim though wasn't as easily appeased and Gibbs almost rolled his eyes as the thought of the overly fussy parents flashed through his mind.

"I want to see him" The younger man announced before making his way past the two older men and up the stairs.

Gibbs shrugged but followed his lover as Ducky made his way into the kitchen where he could hear the water kettle beginning to whistle merrily.

Tim entered the dimly lit room and headed straight for the cot, knowing that his lover would be just a few steps behind him. He stood beside the cot looking down at their son who was sleeping peacefully. The two men were standing side by side with their hands clasped together when they noticed that Tony was stirring.

They both held their breaths in hopes of the boy continuing his nap, but soon the green eyes started to open and the men released their breaths. Tim was about to pick the now half awake baby in his arms when he froze as he heard the small voice of their son.

"Dada"

Tim turned to his lover with his mouth open and eyes wide. The look on his face caused the smirk that had appeared on Gibbs' face at the first words of their son, to grow even more. He nudged the younger man with his shoulder.

"It seems that someone missed you" Jethro watched as Tim picked the boy up with the look of wonder and amazement still etched on his face but now spiced with a big smile. The look however disappeared quickly as Tony's bottom lip trembled and he let out a small whimper at the renewed ache in his gums. Tim looked at the older man in dismay at seeing their son hurting.

Gibbs bend down to pick up the rubber teething ring from the bed where it had fallen at some point, before steering Tim towards the door.

" Lets give him some cool apple sauce and there's another ring cooling in the fridge so he can chew on that after eating" Gibbs directed as they walked out into the hallway. He stopped them at the top of the stairs and gave his lover a warm kiss and looked straight into his eyes.

"Welcome home... Daddy" Jethro said before plucking Tony from Tim's arms and heading down and into the kitchen with the whimpering kid, leaving Tim to stand in his place grinning from ear to ear. It really was good to be home.

_**TBC... **_


	4. One step at a time

"My name is Mister Huggy buggy, will you play with me?" Tim said with a high pitched voice as he sat in front of Tony on the living room floor with one of the boy's teddy bears on his hands. Tony squealed at the act Tim was putting on by playing that it was the bear doing the talking and what appeared to be some very interesting dance moves.

Gibbs who was watching from the door way stifled a laugh so he wouldn't be noticed as he wondered whether Tony's merriment was due to the funny game or the fact that his daddy sounded and looked absolutely ridiculous as he piped up in his 'play' voice. Or it might be the baby blue pirate hat Tim was currently wearing that was way too small for his head as it originally belonged to the bear now in the man's hands.

Jethro shook his head as he thought of the amount of new toy's and other stuff the little kid had gotten on his first birthday that had been just a few short days ago. The pirate bear had been a gift from Abby and both Gibbs and Tim had wondered where she had managed to find a black teddy bear with baby blue pirate hat and eye patch with the little boy's name written on it's belly. The teddy had been an immediate hit, except for the fact that Tony wouldn't let the bear keep his hat and took it off, which was probably why it had ended up on McGee's head.

The older man's attention was turned back to the two 'boys' when he heard the funny voice Tim was using talking to Tony who seemed to have already lost interest on the proceedings and was clambering to his feet using the sofa as a support.

"Hey, Come back, I wanna play" The bear said with a pout in his voice and Tony turned to look at his daddy sitting on the floor with the bear now jumping up and down.

Tim was sitting right next to the sofa and was again doing weird dance moves with the soft toy as he tried to get Tony interested in the game he was playing. He finally gave up with the bear and put it down, and instead picked up another toy that he knew would grab the boy's interest.

"Look what I got" he said in a teasing voice to the boy who had been pointedly ignoring him, but turned around upon hearing the new tone of voice and his eyes lit up as he saw the colorful ball his daddy was holding. Tony looked between the sofa and Tim and it seemed that he was getting to go down and crawl to get the ball, but instead he gave a squeal and launched himself to get the toy.

It took the boy only two faltering steps to reach his goal and both men watched amazed as their son took his first steps. Though still in a mild state of shocked amazement, Tim still had enough presence of mind to catch the boy that came flying at him with arms reaching for the ball.

Gibbs smiled widely as he walked over to his two favorite guys and took Tony from his lover's arms and kissed the little boy's cheek before taking a good hold of the boy under his arms and threw him a bit into the air and caught him again.

The giggling and squealing had Tim scrambling to his feet and standing next ti his lover as the older man played with their son.

"You see that Jethro? He walked!" McGee almost jumped up and down in excitement over the latest development.

"Yeah, I saw it" Gibbs said with a proud smile as he held Tony in his arms and watched as Tim placed a kiss on his forehead before he set the boy down.

The two men watched as Tony crawled to the ball and attacked it with a happy giggle as the ball rolled off from under his little hands, causing him to fall flat on his belly. The set back however did nothing to deteriorate his enthusiasm as he crawled after the ball and attacked it again, completely oblivious to the fact that his parents were still watching him like he had just done something spectacular.

Gibbs was still smiling as he pulled Tim to him and placed a kiss to his lover's lips. "He's growing up real fast" he said as they parted and the younger man laid his head on the slightly shorter man's shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist as they continued to watch their son.

"I know. I can't believe it has been over a year since the day he was born and now he's learning to walk already, soon he'll be going to school, running around after girls and going to college"

Jethro laughed lightly and dropped another quick kiss to his lover's lips.

"That's not gonna happen for years. He'll be our little boy for a long time to come"

Tim smiled at his lover's reassuring words before turning back to their son who was now sitting on the floor, rolling the ball around and alternately babbling things that seemed to make perfect sense to him or blowing spit around while making engine noises.

Gibbs extracted himself from his lover with a kiss to his cheek and went to the toddler.

"You know what buddy? I think it's time for someone's nap" Tony looked up at the older man and smiled.

"Da"

Gibbs chuckled "No it's not time for me to go take a nap" The boy had started to call both his daddies Dada since the first time he had uttered the word, but lately he had taken to calling Gibbs da and only Tim remained as Dada.

Tim smiled and walked over to Tony and picked him up.

"Well even if he won't go take a nap, I think I might be up for one what do you say Tony, you gonna come take a nap with me?" McGee looked his son as he held him in his arms, but instead of saying anything Tony dove at his daddy's chest and snuggles his face into the man's shirt, accidentally hitting Tim's jaw with his head.

McGee rubbed his jaw with one hand while the other held the babbling toddler tightly. "Now is that supposed to be a yes or a no?"

Gibbs snorted his opinion of the matter as he placed an arm around Tim's shoulders and placed small butterfly kisses on the spot where Tony's head had connected with the younger man's jaw and on the spot on Tony's head that had done the hitting.

"C'mon, we might as well all go take that nap as I'm sure the little guy will keep us busy as he hones his walking skills and there's something you have to explain to me" Gibbs said with a slight twitch of his lips as they made their way towards Tony's room to change his diapers before the nap.

"What's that?" Tim asked as he cuddled the boy closer to his chest as he walked.

"Mister Huggy Buggy? They pay you the big bucks for writing and that's the best you could think of?" Gibbs' answer made him groan and blush slightly before he started to make excuses for his lack of a better imagination he had shown earlier.

TBC...

_**A/N: It's taking me a bit longer than I would like to write these chapters, but I'm working on them. I had like Million great ideas for this fic, but I have no ideas where they disappeared to, so lets hope my muse comes back from her hunting trip with the ideas in tow ;D **_


	5. finding the strays

_**A/N: I'm back. So first of all I want to apologize for the longer than long delay, I have a bit of a writers block with this fic and because of that it's taking me longer than I would like to write even half good chapters. I'm sorry if this is a bit half assed, but I really wanted to get something posted and I thought this isn't that bad. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or put this fic on alert. Hope you enjoy:**_

Tim pushed the car shaped shopping cart and looked after his two years-old son who was toddling next to the cart, having lost interest with sitting behind the plastic wheel inside the car. They slowly made their way down the long aisle of the supermarket after buying the groceries Gibbs had send them there for. McGee shook his head as he remembered the doubtful look on Jethro's face as he had told the older man that he was perfectly capable of going for a grocery run with their son without getting sidetracked. As a matter of fact they were just heading to pay for their purchases and there was nothing in the cart but the things they were there to boy and nothing had happened during the whole time.

Tim smiled slightly as Tony laughed at something apparently only he could see. McGee knew he was completely wrapped around the little boy's finger and he knew the same was true for his older lover, even though the ex-marine was better at hiding it. But Tim had seen the red Ferrari car Tony had fallen love with magically appear in the boy's room and no matter what the older man claimed Abby wasn't the one to place it there. So it was totally unreasonable that the older man didn't trust him not to spoil the kid in the store just because last time he had bought the boy ton of new clothes along with a new game and ice cream.

He shook his head with a smile which faltered quickly as he realized he had lost visual on his over active toddler. Tim quickly started walking down the shopping aisle and looking around frantically in hopes of spotting the boy somewhere between the big shelves but there was no sign of the child and nothing indicating where he might have taken off to.

McGee took a deep breath in order to not panic and ran a hand through his hair as he thought of how on earth had Tony managed to disappear without him noticing the boy had started walking off. He thought that there should be leash on the boy as he tried to rationalize and thought of where the kid might have run off to.

It took only a minute for the realization to hit and as it did, the NCIS agent took off at the direction where he had just come from causing two women to look at him a bit strangely as he almost ran them over. The supermarket was one both McGee and Gibbs liked and it was the closest one to their house so they did most of their shopping there so both men knew the place inside and out and apparently so did Tony Tim thought as he arrived at the toy section to find his son on the floor with a bunch of toys the two-year-old had pulled from a nearby box and now was happily playing with.

He almost ran to the boy and picked him up from the floor, causing the toys to drop on the floor. Tony laughed as Tim hugged him tightly and stroked the thick brown hair.

"You can't run off like that, I was worried. That was not nice"

The boy bit his lover lip and the small mouth trembled a bit at the tone of voice, but before he could start crying his daddy placed a kiss to the tip of his nose which the boy always found funny and caused him to giggle, and this time was no different.

McGee smiled at his son now that the slight panic of having lost him was disappearing and he placed him down. Tim was glad he hadn't called Jethro the minute he lost sight of the boy like he would have liked to, as that would have been more than a little embarrassing. The agent watched as his son toddled to pick up all the toys and to McGee's relief all the stuff ended up back in the box from where they had come from and none found their way into the cart. That was until the boy went over to the final toy still on the floor and McGee's eyes widened.

"Oh no Tony, no way are you getting it" But the battle was lost as soon as the boy took out the lethal weapon that was his quivering bottom lip. Tim sighed and slapped himself on the forehead. 'Gibbs is so gonna kill me'

Gibbs was working on his boat in the basement when he heard a car pulling to the driveway. He wiped his hands on a rag he picked up from the floor and headed upstairs to greet his lover and son. He had just reached the top of the stairs as he head the car door slam and it was soon followed with another slam.

He smirked slightly as he was sure that there would be at least one thing in their bag that was not on the list and he would get his told you so moment. The silver haired agent opened the front door and went to stand on the front porch and as he caught sight of his two guys coming up the walk way he couldn't help but laugh.

Tony was walking towards him with a smile on his face that was more than a little satisfied and had a mischievous edge to it and Gibbs thought it was a look he must have gotten from his mother. In his hand there was a small bag that obviously contained a loaf of bread. But what really had caught his attention was the huge brown stuffed doggy following the small kid, grumbling about being set up.

When Tony saw his da standing on the porch he let go of the bread bag and ran as fast as he could up the steps and threw himself at the man's arms and laughed when he was thrown up in the air and caught in the strong arms.

Jethro's attention was drawn back to the massive dog as there was cursing and the older man raised his eyes to see Tim's head poke behind the hairball in his arms as he looked at the boy in his partner's arms.

"Tony come pick up the bag you dropped" Tim motioned his head towards the bag that now lay on the grass since the NCIS agent had kicked it accidentally as the doggy kinda made it hard to see where he was going.

Tony turned innocent eyes to his other da, but the older man gave him a look and put the boy down. It seemed that the boy gave a dramatic sigh before he made his way towards the bread and picked it up yawning as he did so. Gibbs walked down the steps and made his way to the car to get the other groceries and as he passed his lover who sneezed when the fur of the dog tickled his nose, the younger man looked at him and shook his head.

"Don't say a thing" Tim said before making his way inside with the furry beast. Gibbs just shook his head and laughed as he took the remaining bags and brought them inside.

"Not gonna say anything, just wondering whose idea _that _was" Jethro called as he set the bags down in the kitchen before making his way to the living room where he had heard the sound of Tim mobing around. The scene that greeted him was all the answer he needed.

There in the floor was the doggy that was at least five times the size of the kid currently snuggled on the fur ball rubbing his eyes and with his thumb in his mouth. McGee was standing on the other side of the room with a camera in his hand and there was a flash of light causing Tony to blink his eyes owlishly at his daddies before he laid his head back down on the soft fur of the doggy.

Tim looked at Gibbs with a slightly guilty expression and Jethro smiled slightly as he turned to make his way into the kitchen. He was thinking of maybe letting Tim slightly off the hook and only teasing him a bit, well that was until he saw the receipt in the grocery bag and saw how much the damn dog had cost.

"Tim!"

The yell caused the man in question to cringe slightly and Tony to sigh happily as he snuggled closer to his new doggy.

TBC...


	6. setbacks

_**A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to write this chapter, I had a terrible case of writers block concerning this fic and I know this chapter isn't really my best work (and there's a bit OOCness I think), but I wanted to give you something and I figured that it wasn't that bad... Thank you so much to everyone who has read or reviewed and are still following this fic even after the looooong delay. I'm thinking there will be one more chapter in this fic and then I will start the fourth part of the series which will probably be the last one. If you have ideas of what you'd like to see in it, then please let me know and we'll see what I can do :) This chapter was inspired by one of my reviewers (I'm so sorry but I couldn't find the actual review so I forgot the name of the wonderful person!) But you know who you are so thank you to you :)**_

Gibbs paced the length of the waiting room in Bethesda and tried to keep himself from yelling at the nurses on duty who weren't able to tell him anything useful about his lover's condition. Ducky had been by earlier and after trying to calm his friend and seeing what a lost cause that was, had disappeared into the depths of the hospital to try and use his status as a medical professional to get some information.

Meanwhile Jethro had been left to pace. He had no idea where either Kate nor Abby were as both women had left about half an hour earlier to god knows where, obviously not that concerned for their friend who was possibly fighting for his life after getting shot twice during a drug bust gone wrong.

Gibbs finally stopped his frantic pacing and sat down with his head in his hands. There was something nagging at him at the edge of his consciousness that he couldn't quite grasp and there was a weird feeling in his gut that it had something to do with both Abby and Kate going missing, maybe he should have paid a little more attention at what they had been saying before they left.

He pushed the thought away as he heard the approaching footsteps and looked up to see Ducky and some other doctor heading his way. He stood up quickly and searched the mens faces for some clue as to what was going on but got nothing. Finally the doctors were standing in front of him and the unknown doctor offered his hand as a greeting.

"Hello, Doctor Mallard told me you're here with Special Agent McGee." At the impatient nod and a quick handshake the doctor continued "My name is James Dickson and I have been working on your agent since he was brought in four hours ago. He had two gunshot wounds when he was brought in, one was a through and through on his left arm and only required a few stitches. We're more worried about the second bullet that entered Agent McGee's stomach and lodged itself after grazing his liver and other organs and causing extensive bleeding." The doctor paused as he watched the silver haired agent take in the information before he went on

"We took out the bullet and managed to repair the damage to his other organs and the liver, as you might be aware liver is one of the few organs that can actually somewhat regenerate itself so there should be no lasting damage to it. Your agent lost a lot of blood so we had to give him a transfusion and there is still the risk of infection to his wounds but we have already started him on IV antibiotics to hopefully stop that from happening. There is also the fact that he hit his head as he fell down after being shot and I'm sorry to tell you this but all these injuries combined has caused Agent McGee to slip into a coma."

Gibbs sucked in a breath once he heard that and he looked at his old friend to see if this was some kind of sick joke, but the compassionate look on the older man's face caused his breath to come out in a whoosh of air as he seemed to deflate and collapsed into the chair that was luckily behind him.

"A coma. Will he wake up?" There was only one answer Gibbs wanted for that question and he sent a prayer up that he would receive it.

The doctor looked slightly uncomfortable as he contemplated how to answer. "There is no reason to think he wouldn't, Agent McGee is young and healthy, but I have to be truthful, there is a lot we don't yet understand about comas. It is entirely possible he will wake up in a day or even less but there is always the possibility that the condition will last for weeks or sometimes a person can be comatose for moths or even years without any apparent reason. I wish there was something else I could give you but right now we just don't know. The longer he stays in a coma however decreases his changes of getting out of it."

Ducky moved to sit next to his friend as Dickson told the men it would be okay to visit their friend in a few more minutes and that a nurse would be by to fetch them before taking his leave.

"How could this happen" Jethro asked no one in particular as his mind whirled with the doctor's words that inspired little hope in him.

"That is a question none of us hold the answers to my dear friend. I'm confident that young Timothy will pull through this as he has much to live for as both you and little Anthony mean so much to the lad." Ducky sighed as it seemed that Jethro had not heard a thing he had said. He looked at his watch and upon realizing that it was already well past the time for little Anthony to be fetched from day care he looked at his friend and upon seeing the slightly lost look he decided to call Abigail to give her an update and ask if she knew anything about what was going on with the little lad.

He walked to the lobby where he took out his old fashioned cell phone and dialed the number for the young goth.

"_Hey Duckman, what can I do for my favorite ME?" _Came the cheerful response but the older man could hear the worry behind it.

"Well I could help but notice that you and young Caitlin weren't in the waiting room with Jethro so I took the liberty to call you with an update and inquire if you had any idea about where might young Anthony be as it is well past the time for him to be picked up."

There was a moment of silence as the ME heard Abby talking with someone before she answered.

"_Yeah Me and Kate are taking care of him, We tried to tell Bossman that we would pick Tony up, but I'm not sure he heard me. I'm worried about him Ducky he was just pacing and not hearing anything and we decided it best to just go get Tony and bring him to my place and not take him to the hospital before we know what was going on. How's Tim? Tell me he's going to be okay. Tony's been asking for his Dada and daddy which is a new one cause I thought he called Gibbs da but now he's asking daddy instead of da-"_

"Abigail!" Ducky said to stop the rant that was coming from the nervous and worried goth "I'm afraid there was some internal damage the doctors had to fix and now young Timothy has slipped into a coma" He heard the gasp and then someone he assumed was Caitlin asking for information. He heard Abby's trembling voice relay the news before the voice in the phone changed just as he heard the young goth start sobbing.

"_Ducky it's Kate. We're coming over in a little while and we'll bring Tony with us. He needs to see at least one of his daddies as he's really getting upset." _

Ducky could understand that, the three year old had never been away from his daddies for long and after the boy's recent bout of the flu he was still a bit clingy even if he was almost back to his previous health.

"I'm sure that will be fine. Jethro will surely be just as eager to see his son too. I shall return to the waiting room, but I will be there in the lobby to greet you once I know what room the poor lad is in."

"_Okay thanks Ducky. See you in a while" _

The older man sighed as he said his goodbyes and put the phone back into his pocket. He made his way back to the waiting room hoping that his old friend would snap out of his state before his son would get there.

His hopes however were dashed as Gibbs didn't break out of his 'funk' as Abby would have called it, when they were lead to Tim's room or when he saw his lover. The younger man was covered in bandages and his complexion was deathly pale. There were more leads and tubes coming from his body than anyone wanted to think about and there were collection bags hanging from the side of his bed one connected to his catheter and other to his draining tube that collected the blood and other liquids that would otherwise pool in his stomach.

Jethro said nothing as he sat down on the chair that was positioned next to the younger man's bed and he took his injured lover's hand in his own and whispered something to the man that was too softly spoken for Ducky to hear but he could make a guess of not perhaps the exact words, but the gist.

Ducky stayed a few minutes before he excused himself and made his way to the lobby to take the two women and the little boy to see the ailing young man. He waited for almost twenty minutes before the hospital doors opened and in came Kate and Abby, the latter carrying in his arms a dark headed little boy.

The older man smiled despite the circumstances as Tony wiggled himself out of the Goth's arms and ran to the man who was like a grandfather to him. The little boy was delighted to see the older man and he threw himself to the waiting arms of the man. "Docky!"

The ME smiled at the name and hugged the boy tightly.

"Well hello there Anthony, how are you my lad" Tony smiled brightly and with his small hands signed the word 'good' Although the boy was already three years old his speech wasn't as well developed as it should be at his age and he could only say a few individual words as well as some names though as it was with Ducky they became a bit altered.

The doctors said that it was normal and no cause to worry that Tony didn't speak much yet, though the highly energetic boy did try his best, but still both Abby and Gibbs had taught the boy alternative means to communicate, namely Sign language, which the boy was picking up very well.

Ducky shook his head as that line of thought reminded him how Tim had also been learning ASL which brought his mind back to the situation at hand.

"Well that's good." He looked up at Abby and Kate who were both standing in front of him.

"How is he Ducky" Kate asked as it seemed that the other woman could not form the words in fear of her tedious control of her tears breaking if she uttered a word.

Ducky sighed as he held the boy in his arms a bit tighter feeling Tony snuggle closer as well.

"There's nothing new, there's nothing to do but wait and hope that he'll wake up soon"

Both women nodded and the older man led them towards Tim's room where they all knew that Gibbs would be keeping watch over their unconscious friend.

Once they were standing in front of the doors to he room the ME motioned for the women to enter "I shall wait here with little Anthony while you visit, I think it's best not to bring him in there. If you would be so kind as to tell Jethro we're waiting for him."

He watched the women step into the room and after a little while the door opened again and Tony's delighted voice filled the corridor as he stretched his arms towards the man who had just stepped into the hall.

"Daddy!"

Gibbs smiled a little sadly as he caught his son and pulled him in a tight embrace.

"Hey little guy, I'm sorry I didn't pick you up earlier" Jethro felt guilty about forgetting his son and he mentally slapped his head for that.

"Duck, I don't want to leave Tim alone, but I can't leave Tony either. Could you stay with Tim while I take Tony home and I'll come back in the morning when he's in daycare."

"Why of course Jethro, Either Abigail, Kate or myself will be by his side while you take care of your son." Ducky was glad to see his friend had came out of his earlier despondent state and was willing to go home with his son even if he could see how much it was casting the other man to leave his lover.

"Just give me a few more minutes" Jethro said as he tried to hand Tony back to the other man, but the boy had a tight grip on his shirt.

"No, daddy" The look on the Lead Agent's face was of such a deep sadness it broke Ducky's heart as he took the boy even if it caused him to start crying softly at being separated from his daddy.

"It's okay Anthony, your daddy will be right back" He soothed the young boy who was clinging to his shirt and sniffling as he called for his daddy and his Dada

Finally Jethro returned from his lover's room and took the boy back in his arms and pressed a kiss to his head before nodding at his old friend.

"You sure you're well enough to drive Jethro? I would be more than happy to give you a ride while Abigail and Caitlin keep an eye on young Timothy."

"We'll be fine Duck, thanks" With that the agent left with his son and left the ME to hope that he was right and they would be fine.

The next week was difficult for everyone as they waited for Tim to wake up but every day the hope seemed just a little further away. Ducky, Abby and Kate tried their best to be there for Gibbs and Tony, but the more time passed the more distracted Jethro got and that only caused him to neglect his son and the little boy to become more and more withdrawn.

The three had been saddened every time they saw the father and son together, the little boy trying to get his daddy to play with him and give him affection, most of the time his efforts going unanswered as Jethro was too worried for his lover to take care of himself, much less a small child.

Finally after a week of Gibbs trying to split himself between work, his lover and the little lad Ducky put an end to it by putting his friend on medical leave for a week and taking Tony to his care for the time being so Jethro could focus all his effort to take care of himself and watch his lover.

Jethro had hard time excepting the situation, but ultimately he too saw how he wasn't being a good father for the moment and it pained him more than he could ever express that he had neglected his little boy he loved more than life itself.

Ducky had taken Tony once to see his daddy as the boy had been crying after his fathers for almost whole day, but the way Tim hadn't reacted to his son's presence had seemed to upset the boy more than doing him any good he had decided not to bring him to the hospital again.

Two weeks after the shooting, Gibbs was sitting beside his lover's bed and reading the day's paper to him, trying hard not to yawn thought all the sleepless nights were starting to catch up to him. He had spent every day sitting beside his lover and in the evenings he would go to Ducky's house to sit with his son for a few hours as he watched the little boy sleep, just to make sure he was alright.

He put the paper down after going through it and deciding there was nothing of interest in it. His attention was drawn to the bed when he saw one of his lover's hands move. Gibbs quickly leaned forward and took the hand in his and gave it a squeeze, almost jumping in surprise when there was an answering squeeze.

"Tim? C'mon open your eyes for me." Jethro smiled in satisfaction when the younger man's eyelids started to flutter and his eyes opened to slits before closing again. It took a minute before Tim opened his eyes fully and looked around the room, clearing his throat as the ventilator tube that had been down there the previous week had left his throat feeling scratchy and sore.

Gibbs reached to pick up a cup with a straw in it and brought it to his lover's lips and instructing him to take small sips before pushing the call button.

It didn't take long for a nurse to come in and once she saw that her patient was awake she went in search for the doctor and soon Gibbs was ushered out of the room so that Doctor Dickson could exam his patient.

Jethro had a smile on his face as he took the opportunity to call Ducky with the news of Tim's awakening.

"_That's wonderful news! I was just going to fetch young Anthony from the daycare so we will be there in a while. The poor boy could surely use with seeing both his daddies" _

Gibbs closed the phone as he saw the doctor come out of Tim's room and he made his way to the other man.

"How is he?"

"Well it seems that he's doing exceptionally well. Agent McGee's wounds have healed very well during these past two weeks and the coma hasn't appeared to have left any lasting damage, thought he will be tired and might experience some slurring of his speech or mild headaches, but those will repair themselves if there is anything like that. All in all he's doing great. I would like to keep him here for a few more days for observation, but barring any complications he should be able to go home the day after tomorrow, as long as he takes it easy as the damage to his stomach will be sore for a while still."

Gibbs thanked the doctor before making his way into the hospital room, he was a bit disappointed as he saw Tim with his eyes closed and he thought the man was asleep, but as soon as he got closer to the bed the man on it opened his eyes and smiled once he realized who was standing next to him.

"Jethro"

"Yeah I'm here, It's good to see you awake" the older man said as he took his lover's hand in his.

"Good to be awake. Doc said I was out for weeks. Where's Tony?" The younger man had been looking around the room sleepily as he talked, but once he realized there was something missing he turned his eyes to his lover and the older man could see the worry in them.

"You were out for two weeks. Tony has been staying with Ducky so I could be here for you and they'll be here soon so don't worry" But Jethro himself was a bit worried, he had had a nagging feeling in his gut that something wasn't right and ever since his call to Ducky it had been getting stronger and stronger, he couldn't wait until he could see with his own eyes that Tony was really okay.

"Mm' kay wake me then okay?" Tim closed his eyes and fell asleep before he could hear the affirmative or feel the kiss that was pressed to his dry lips.

Twenty minutes later the door to the room opened and Ducky came in holding Tony in his arms as the two walked closer to the bed.

Gibbs noticed that the boy was more quiet than normal and kept glancing at the ground next to the old ME's feet. He stood up and came to stand right in front of his friend and frowned when Tony buried his face in the older man's shirt and didn't look at his daddy.

"He's been like this for days now. He hasn't asked for either you nor Timothy for a while and he's more shy and withdrawn than before."

Jethro looked hike he had been punched in the gut as he realized that it was his fault for abandoning the kid that the normally energetic little boy had been reduced to a shy and quiet shadow of himself.

"Come here Tony" Gibbs said holding out his arms. It took a while before the little boy looked up and when he did he looked at the ME as if to ask permission and then he again looked down and seemed to sign something to the floor before he turned to his daddy and held his hands out so Gibbs could pick him up.

Jethro smiled a bit sadly as he held Tony tightly and walked over to the bed and placed the boy on the bed next to his Dada, being careful to put the boy on the side of the uninjured arm.

"Dada" Tony whispered as he snuggled closer to the young man and he started crying softly when the man didn't respond at first but as soon as Tim woke up to the feel of someone lying next to him and hearing the quiet sobs he wrapped his arm around the shaking little boy and pulled his closer.

"Shh Tony, I'm here don't cry" Tim soothed the little boy until the kid fell asleep pressed tightly to his Dada's side and with an arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders and his other daddy's hand rubbing his back.

"Is he alright Ducky?" Tim asked as he turned his eyes from the sleeping child to the older man now sitting on the other side of his bed from where Gibbs was standing.

The ME sighed as he thought about that.

"He has taken this quite hard. He has missed his daddies and for the past week he has become more and more withdrawn as he has shut himself from ht outside world. Jethro you might have noticed how he kept glancing to my feet" At Gibbs nod and Tim's puzzled look the older man continued.

"Well he has acquired an imaginary friend, a pet to be more precise. He sees a little dog that has been keeping him company for the past week and according to Tony his name is Mac."

"He has an imaginary dog?" Tim asked with wide eyes, he wasn't sure if having an imaginary friend was a good or a bad thing as he couldn't remember ever having one himself.

"Yes, it's quite common for kids of his age to have imaginary friends and I suppose this rather stressing situation has caused him to feel rather lonely and he has learned to cope by creating the dog to make him feel less alone and I hate to say this but the boy might even feel abandoned in a way" As he saw the guilty looks on both mens faces he hastened to add.

"It is not you're fault, this situation has been hard for everyone I think after the boy's recent bout of illness he has been a tad more vulnerable than normal, but he's a fine young kid and I have no doubt he will bounce back from this as long as you make sure to give him all the love an attention he needs."

"He'll get all the love he needs and more" Tim said as he hugged the boy by his side tighter.

Both lovers vowed to show the boy how much he was loved and to take care of him like the special little boy deserved and both daddies promised to themselves that they would be there for their son no matter what happened. Jethro smiled as he came up with an idea and he leaned down to whisper into his lovers ear and Tim's eyes brightened at the words and he smiled brightly. Maybe soon Tony wouldn't need an imaginary pet to keep him company.

TBC...


	7. Making it better

_**A/N: I'm back again, I'm again sorry for taking so long with the update, I have no excuse for it and I feel really bad for my tardiness. This is the last chapter of this fic and I want to thank you everyone who has read, reviewed, put this on alert or to their favorites, I would love to continue writing these little one shots, but I'm currently fresh out of ideas for this.(but I reserve the right to add more chapters if I get more ideas, but I don't want anyone to be waiting for updates that may never come. So the fic will be marked as complete for now anyway...) I'm working on the next part of the series, but I can not say when I will start posting since I have a lot of things in the works... Hope you enjoy the chapter!**_

It had taken a week after Tim's return to the land of the living before the doctor gave him permission to return to work on desk duty, but both Tim and Gibbs had noticed that Tony was still highly affected by their seemingly abandoning him, so both men decided it best for the younger man to take all the sick leave he could muster up and stay at home with their little boy.

Gibbs himself had gone back to work as soon as his lover had been released leaving McGee alone with Tony at home, he had made sure the younger man was well enough to be left like that, but as long as Tim was careful not to overdo it, he would be fine.

McGee had tried his best to show his son how much he was loved and to be there for him as much as possible, but still the boy seemed shyer and more withdrawn than before and he wasn't babbling as much either. Before Tony had been a very talkative boy, even if his speech wasn't developing at a normal rate, but he had been trying. Now he was content to use what little sign language he knew to get his point across and only used a few words here and there, mainly Dada and Daddy.

It broke Tim's heart to see how his normally so happy and energetic little boy had been hurt so much by what had happened, that he had turned quiet, only playing with his imaginary dog. Another thing that had changed was that the little boy had became clingy, he spent as much of his time in his daddies lap as he could and when he wasn't in physical contact with them he would every now and then stop whatever he was doing to make sure he wasn't alone and if he couldn't see either of the men, he would call out to them and only be satisfied when he got a visual of one of his daddies.

Slowly though things seemed to improve and more of Tony's old energy and happiness would break through, making Gibbs and McGee believe for the first time that the boy would be alright in time.

When Tim had to return to work both men feared that it would set back the progress they had made with their son, but to their surprise the return to the routine that they had prior to McGee getting hurt seemed to be just the thing to help Tony bounce back. They all settled back into the daily life and everything settled back to the way they were.

After a month of both men being back to work and Tony in daycare, they got home after a quiet work day after picking their son up and Gibbs set to work preparing dinner as Tim went to the living room to play with Tony. McGee and the little boy sat on the floor racing toy cars and the man smiled happily when his son was sent into peals of laughter when he used the car to drive all over the little boy's belly and over his head.

"Daddy!" The little boy cried out for help in the midst of his laughter when Tim abandoned the car in favor of using his fingers to tickle the little boy.

It took Jethro only a minute to rush out of the kitchen to see what had caused Tony to call for him, but as he saw the scene in front of him he couldn't help but grin. The little boy called for him again and he rushed over and tackled Tim gently to the ground and pulled Tony to launch a revenge attack on McGee's unprotected sides.

After a while of tickling by both Gibbs and Tony he couldn't take it anymore "Okay I surrender!" Tim called out and was relieved when the assault ended but the residual giggles still escaped his mouth a few times before he got himself under control.

"Okay kids time for dinner" Jethro said as he got up from the floor and held out a hand to his lover who stuck a tongue out to him but accepted the hand none the less.

After dinner and the three settled in to watch a movie and afterwards took Tony to his bed to get some sleep.

Once the little boy was sleeping the two men headed to their own bedroom and changed their clothes before getting in bed.

"You know I haven't seen him converse Mac for a while" Tim said referring to the imaginary dog that had kept Tony company during the time he was feeling abandoned.

"Yeah, maybe he doesn't need him anymore" Gibbs suggested and he could see his lover frown as the bedside lamps were still on.

"Maybe, I just wish he hadn't needed him in the first place"

Jethro nodded and leaned in to give his lover a soft kiss before pulling back to look into his eyes. "It was not your fault you got shot."

"I know." They decided to leave that subject since neither of the men were truly convinced that they weren't at fault for everything that had gone wrong during that time.

"So, tomorrow's Saturday and we have the weekend off. The plan still on?" McGee asked in an effort to distract himself

"Oh yeah, I called my friend and he said he has some good ones for us to pick from." Tim couldn't help but grin at the idea of them getting a dog for their son.

"Oh I'm sure Tony will appreciate having lots to choose from" The men had decided that instead of going by themselves to get a dog, they'd take Tony with them and let him be a part of choosing the perfect one, and since Gibbs' friend who owned a kennel had already made sure they had a selection of kid friendly dogs to choose from there wasn't any danger of getting a dog that was not suitable for a family with a kid.

The men has also decided not to get a small puppy since neither had any experience with raising a dog so it would be best if the dog would have some prior training.

Gibbs snorted at his lover's words "Oh yeah, he'll probably want them all"

"You call Tess yet?" Jethro asked his lover who gave himself a slap on the forehead for forgetting.

"No, I totally forgot, it's not too late yet so I'll do it now" He got out of bed and took out his cell before going to the hall to make the call not wanting Jethro to hear as he groveled to make up for forgetting the call.

Tess was a nice twenty something woman who lived with her husband in the house next to their's. The woman had been longing for a dog for a long time, but unfortunately her husband was severely allergic to any creature with fur so a dog didn't fit in their life. Tess was unemployed at the moment so she had heaps of free time and nothing to do during the days.

The two men had wanted to get a dog for Tony, but because the boy was too little to take care of the dog and because of their crazy work hours it had seemed an impossible to add a dog to their house hold. That was until they got an idea and talked it over with Tess. So the three came to an agreement, Tim and Gibbs would get a dog and Tess would take care of it during days and if the two men were unable to get away from work and the woman could come see the dog whenever she wanted and take him for a walk or something like that.

The arrangement seemed perfect for everyone involved and Tess' husband was happy with the arrangement, Tim just had to call the woman and make sure she would be free to come and see the dog once they brought it home.

After a while Tim returned to bed and nodded his head to indicate that Tess was free the next day and he told his lover she would be by later in the evening.

With that both men settled in for the night and after exchanging good night's were out like two lights.

The next morning after breakfast Tim and Gibbs loaded Tony into the car and started the drive to the kennel where they would be getting the dog. The drive was quiet as Tony fell asleep almost as soon as they pulled out of their driveway.

Gibbs pulled the car into the yard of a big country house with plenty of yard space and two big cages where a few dogs barked a greeting as the men got out of the car. Tim opened the back door to get the little boy who was now wide awake and watching the dogs with something acing to wonder in his green eyes.

The door to the house opened and a man about Gibbs' age stepped out onto the porch before smiling widely and making his way to his friend.

"Gunny! It's been a while" He said as he shook Jethro's hand before turning to Tim and Tony who was standing next to his dada.

"It has, Rick meet my partner Tim and our son Tony. Tim this is an old friend of mine Richard but he prefers Rick, don't even try and call him Dick or he'll go ballistic."

Tim smiled and stretched his hand out for a shake.

Rick laughed at the introduction and shook the proffered hand before crouching down so he was looking in the little boy's eyes who was now hiding behind McGee's legs.

"Hello Tony, My name is Rick. It's very nice to meet you." He offered his hand out for Tony to shake and after getting an encouraging nod from his daddies the little boy took hold of the hand and pumped it up and down vigorously.

"Tonie, Nice meet you too" Rick laughed again kindly as he ruffled the boy's hair before addressing the boy again. "You know why you're here Tony?"

Tony looked at his daddies before shaking his head and looking back at the man in front of him.

"Well, I grow dogs, do you like dogs?" After the boy nodded enthusiastically the man continued.

"Your daddies brought you here to look at some doggies and if you're a good boy and if you find one you like, you can take him home with you"

Tony's eyes widened as he listened to the words and he turned to look at his daddies to confirm the words.

"My doggy?" He asked and smiled happily when Gibbs confirmed the words.

"You wanna go see the dogs?" The words were directed to Gibbs and Tim, but it was Tony who gave the answer.

"Lets go!"

The men smiled at his enthusiasm and Rick led them to the back yard where there was another big cage with a few dogs inside.

"These are the ones I had in mind for you to pick from, they're all house trained and child friendly." They made their way closer to the pen, Tony leaning the way now that he had taken off to see the dogs more closely.

All men expected it to take a while for them to pick a dog but Tony looked through all the dogs in the pen before his eyes light up at the sight of a beautiful black and white dog and he he let out a happy "Mac!"

The men turned to look at the dog that had caused the boy to get so excited and saw the black and white dog with one brown ear licking the hand that Tony had resting on the fence.

"That one is a Border Collie, he's still a pup, but well trained for his age and he loves kids" Gibbs nodded his head, he had known the man long enough to know that he could be trusted with theses kind of things.

"How much?" He asked curtly, the smile on the little boy's face making the decision to get the dog.

Tim turned surprised eyes at his lover at that ,but didn't comment after all it seemed that Tony had already fallen in love to the dog that obviously reminded him of his imaginary pet and neither man thought the dog anyway unfit to be a part of their little family.

"Tell you what Gunny, since I owe you and everything you take that dog home and take good care of it and we'll call it even. Besides your boy has already named it and all so it's already his"

Jethro smiled widely at that and offered his hand to seal the deal. Gibbs looked at the boy who was having his cheek licked by the little dog and giggling happily and he turned to Rick with a half smirk.

"Don't think we're even Rick" as the other man turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow Gibbs continued with a smile "I definitely owe you now" But even as he said it Jethro didn't seem to mind one bit.

He turned to look a this lover and took Tim's hand in his, knowing that Rick wouldn't mind and pulling the younger man to his side. They watched as Rick went to put a leash on the dog and let it out of the pen. The dog wagged it's tail as he Rick brought him over and after briefly smelling his new owners and letting them scratch his ears he turned his attention back to the boy that had fallowed the dog. The small dog started again licking Tony's hand as the little boy started petting the dog, Tim cautioning him to be gentle when he got a bit too carried away with patting the soft fur.

The two men watched their son with the dog and how happy Tony seemed and they smiled at each other knowing that everything would be alright and that Tony would be fine.

The End...


End file.
